1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device which is propelled on the underside of an ice mass formed on a body of water.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Often, it is desirable to gain access to water laying underneath expansive ice blocks. For example, in the winter months when the ice is thick enough to walk on, many of man's leisure hours are spent ice fishing. Traditionally, the methods used in ice fishing are by the use of "tip-ups" or "jigging". Both of these methods require the drilling of a hole in the ice and suspending the bait dropped down the ice hole. In the first method the bait is suspended by a line from a "tip-up". In the second method, "jigging", a bait is attached to a line and moved up and down by the fisherman. In both cases the area being fished is limited to the water directly beneath the ice hole.
Frequently during ice fishing and other activities, such as ice skating, the ice begins to melt and the sportsman falls into the water. Because of the freezing conditions, death can occur very quickly. Thus, it is important that life saving means be immediately available. Unfortunately, usually the only help which is available is a fellow sportsman.
Presently there is a great deal of interest in environmental and ecological studies. For a thorough understanding of the various factors involved, such studies are carried out under different climatic conditions. While such studies are difficult to carry out under the best of conditions, the difficulties become insurmountable when it is desired to examine the environment below a mass of ice.
Thus there is a present need for an apparatus which may be used to extend various activities to areas lying under ice which heretofore were accessible only by submarines or divers.